BUSINESS INSIDER - Feb 2 - Match Group, which started as one lonely Stanford Business School graduate's attempt to build a less embarrassing way to find love online in the '90s, has turned into a titan that owns nearly every US dating site. Bumble, however, is conspicuously absent from Match's portfolio. Bumble's CEO, ex-Tinder executive Whitney Wolfe Herd, has a toxic history with the online dating group.
History of Match
- Match Group was founded in Feb 2009 after IAC decided to bundle all dating sites it owned.
- AC's initial purchase of Match.com dates back to the 1990s. Gary Kremen founded Match.com in 1995; he left in 1996 with just ~$50K.
- Ticketmaster bought Match.com in 1999 for $50M. Cendant Corporation bought the company a year earlier for $6M.
- During the 2000s, IAC chairman Barry Diller turned Match.com into one of the most successful online dating companies in the US.
- Jim Safka, a former ETrade and AT&T executive, took over as Match.com CEO in 2004.
- Revenue increased 68% between 2003 and 2006, going from $185M to $311M
- IAC acquired People Media for $80M in July 2009, with a combined 255K subscribers.
- 2011, Match Group acquired OkCupid for $50M.
- In January 2012, Hatch Labs, a startup "sandbox" launched by IAC to incubate mobile apps, hired Sean Rad as general manager. Rad worked with developer Joe Muñoz to create the prototype for Tinder. Jonathan Badeen and Chris Gulczynski were hired to help with front-end and design. Whitney Wolfe Herd was hired in May and Justin Mateen was brought in as a contractor. The app was originally called Match Box.
- August 2012, Match Box was renamed to "Tinder" and launched on Apple's App Store.
- By April 2013, Tinder officially incorporated, with Rad, Badeen, and Mateen considered the company's cofounders. Rad served as CEO.
- IAC later purchased another chunk of Tinder for ~$50M.
- In 2014, Wolfe Herd sued Tinder and IAC for sexual harassment and discrimination.
- In 2015, acquired POF for $575M, Match Group went public.
- By 2017, Tinder had merged under the Match Group umbrella.
- In 2018, Rad and nine other Tinder employees sued IAC, claiming IAC purposely undervalued the startup. The lawsuit sought $2B in damages.
- 2018, acquisition of Hinge.
- December 2019, IAC announced it was spinning off its stake in Match Group.
- Jan 2020, Match Group CEO of 14 years, Mandy Ginsberg, stepped down. Former Tinder COO Shar Dubey took over.
by Avery Hartmans & Allana Akhtar
See full article at Business Insider